Meals On Wheels Crucial Part Of Community Services

Jeff Green | Jul 25, 2013

One of the cornerstones of the Community Support programs for seniors that are offered by community service agencies in Frontenac and L&A Counties, with funding support from the South East Local Health Integration Network, is the Meals on Wheels program.

Pat Rhyno is the cook for the Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS) Meals on Wheels program.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Pat arrives early in the morning at the kitchen in the Seniors' Centre that NFCS runs out of the former manse at the Sharbot Lake United Church. She prepares a hot meal from scratch for anywhere from 30 to 50 people twice a week. This Tuesday, roast ham with mashed potatoes, carrots and cauliflower, along with beef soup was on the menu. With help from volunteer Jessie Lavery, Pat prepared the meals and placed them in containers in time for the Meals on Wheels drivers to whisk them off to recipients in Plevna, Arden, Godfrey, and points in between. Each meal also included a roll and butter as well as a piece of apple coffee cake that Pat makes herself.

“People enjoy the fact that our meals are made fresh each time,” said Pat, who works in the finance department at NFCS when she is not putting her training as a cook to work preparing Meals on Wheels.

The Meals on Wheels program was started up at NFCS in 2000. Seniors can order meals on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and if they want they can get more than one meal to tide them over.

“Thanks to the subsidy from the LHIN, the meals are very well priced at $6.50” said Catherine Tysick, the Community Support Services co-ordinator for NFCS, “and we want seniors to be aware that they are available throughout North and Central Frontenac.”

The Wheels part of the equation is an ongoing challenge, according to Tysick. “We are in need of volunteer drivers for some of our routes so we can continue to deliver meals everywhere in the area,” she said. “We need new drivers, back up drivers, and even volunteers to support the kitchen staff as well."

As drivers deliver meals, they also get to know the seniors receiving the meals. “The drivers chat with the clients for a minute or two sometimes, and they get to know them. When things don’t look right; if there has been a change, they can let us know about it, and that helps us to find out if clients need more service from us,” said Tysick “The drivers play a crucial role in our ability to provide community care.”

For further information about receiving meals, or volunteering, call NFCS at 613-279-3151 and ask for Catherine. For information about services in South Frontenac, call 613-376-6477; and in Addington Highlands or Barrie ward of North Frontenac, call Land O’Lakes Community Services at 613-336-8934.